When you seek medical care, you expect to leave the medical facility feeling better. However, in some situations, patients may leave a hospital or other medical facility in a worse condition than when they entered. If this occurs due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
If you were injured because of an error made by a healthcare provider, a Fort Worth medical malpractice lawyer from Loncar Lyon Jenkins may be able to help. Call us at (877) 239-4878 to learn more about the legal options that may be available to you.
What You Need to Know About Medical Malpractice
Doctors study medicine for many years and practice under the supervision of a more knowledgeable doctor as part of their training. As a result, patients reasonably expect that health care providers will treat them with the care that coincides with this skill and education. If a health care provider provides care that falls below the standard that a reasonably competent doctor would have provided under similar circumstances, medical malpractice may have occurred.
For a free legal consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer serving Fort Worth, call 800-777-7777
Examples of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice can occur from a variety of situations. In fact, Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that medical errors are the third most common cause of death in the United States. Some of the most common forms of medical malpractice include:
Failure to Diagnose or Delayed Diagnosis
Doctors and other health care providers are expected to talk to a patient to learn about their symptoms and history. They may also examine the patient and run tests to determine the patient’s ailment. Failure to diagnose occurs when a healthcare provider fails to diagnose an existing medical condition. The patient can suffer unnecessarily from this condition because the health care provider was unable to identify a condition to treat.
Delayed diagnosis occurs when a health care provider does not provide a proper diagnosis until later than they should have been able to. A patient may endure additional pain and suffering or have a shorter life expectancy due to the delayed diagnosis. For example, this may occur when a doctor diagnoses a patient with stage II cancer instead of stage IV cancer.
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis occurs when a health care provider diagnoses a patient with a condition they do not actually have. There are two problems with this. First, the patient receives treatment for a condition they do not actually have, which may cause adverse health effects. Second, the patient does not receive treatment for the condition they do have.
Medication Errors
Many medical errors involve medication errors. These errors can occur due to:
- Giving the patient the wrong type of medication
- Prescribing the patient the wrong medication due to legibility issues or prescription mix-ups
- Giving the patient the wrong dosage of medication
- Administering the medication in the wrong way
- Not checking the patient’s existing medication to see if the prescribed medication might adversely react with another type of medication
Failure to Warn
Failure to warn or lack of informed consent cases arise when a patient is not given sufficient information about the potential risks of a medical treatment or procedure. They must also know about alternatives and the potential of certain injuries.
Never Events
The National Quality Forum created a class of medical errors called “never events.” While these events should not occur, they do. They include such serious reportable events as:
- Surgery performed on the wrong side of the body
- Surgery performed on the wrong body part
- Surgery performed on the wrong patient
- Keeping a foreign object like a scalpel or sponge in a patient after surgery
- Release of a patient who is unable to make decisions on their own behalf
- Patient disappearance
- Patient suicide while under treatment
- Unsafe administration of blood products
- Serious injury or death to a pregnant mother in a low-risk pregnancy during labor or delivery
- Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm
Reach the Loncar Lyon Jenkins team at (877) 239-4878 today to speak about your options if any of the above occurred to you or a family member.
Fort Worth Medical Malpractice Lawyer Near Me 800-777-7777
How Your Lawyer Will Prove Medical Malpractice
Our Fort Worth medical malpractice lawyers will take all of the steps necessary to help you establish the legal basis for your claim, which may include:
Contacting Expert Witnesses
Medical malpractice claims are often complex and may involve complicated legal and medical issues. In most medical malpractice cases, a medical expert must be able to testify about the victim’s injury and how a deviation from the medical standard of care caused it. We can retain expert witnesses for your claim and ensure that we have a strong understanding of its basis.
Reviewing Medical Records
We can request relevant medical records on your behalf that may showcase holes in your treatment, such as:
- Doctors not ordering necessary tests
- Doctors not reviewing test results
- Medications not being reconciled
- Surgical notes that show a problem that happened in the operating room
- Emergency room records that demonstrate proper care and attention was not given to you
Seeking Discovery Answers
One of the most effective ways that personal injury lawyers can gather relevant information in your case is by sending formal discovery requests, such as:
- Subpoenas to medical facilities for copies of business records
- Interrogatories that ask the defendant to answer specific questions about your care and that can help your legal team better prepare for the case
- Requests for production of key documents
- Admissions that get the defendant to admit to certain things on the record
- Depositions of the defendant and other witnesses to anticipate trial testimony
Contact our team to get started on your claim.
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Contact Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers for a Free Case Review
If you were injured because of a careless health care provider, a Fort Worth medical malpractice lawyer can review the circumstances of your claim and explain whether you have a viable medical malpractice action. We will provide a free case review to explain your legal rights and options.
Our team works for you on a contingency-fee-basis, so you do not pay any attorney fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf. Call Loncar Lyon Jenkins at (877) 239-4878 to get started.
Call or text 800-777-7777 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
